Electronic Textbooks
E-books are being widely adopted as alternatives to traditional textbooks. Here you'll find articles detailing new developments in the area of e-book and e-textbook technologies, along with stories about institutions adopting them.
A new task force with provosts, library directors, faculty and students at the University of Texas System will spend the next year sorting out ways to make college more affordable.
Austin Community College in Texas is expanding its use of open educational resources in a big way. The school is working on developing a zero-textbook-cost business degree, and last fall, the school launched two "Z-degree" programs: an associate of science in general studies and an associate of arts in general studies.
This fall, students at Goucher College can save up to 70 percent off publisher list textbook prices thanks to the institution's partnership with eCampus.com.
Carnegie Mellon University's Simon Initiative, a cross-disciplinary effort to develop a "learning engineering ecosystem" for improving student outcomes, is teaming up with open courseware provider Lumen Learning to "share tools for developing, evaluating and continuously improving evidence-based learning materials."
McGraw-Hill has introduced Open Learning Solutions, a new offering that provides tools and support for developing customized digital course materials.
Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College is working with three of the largest community college systems in the country to adopt the use of interactive open educational resources. The Consortium for Open Active Pathways, as it's called, will use technology to increase the availability of college-level educational materials, particularly in healthcare studies.
According to a recent survey, Amazon is the primary purchase channel for college students to buy their textbooks, beating out other websites as well as the brick-and-mortar college bookstore.
To help your students reduce the cost of their education, begin with open educational resources. Many of these textbooks won't cost them anything.
The concept of "open learning" encompasses far more than what's found in a textbook. These sources provide other kinds of resources that will boost your students' learning.
Cengage is adding a free Career Center for subscribers of Cengage Unlimited, the company's course materials subscription service.